SRA Pre-registration Preference Poll Survey

Workshop C: Exposure science: Exploring the role of exposure in population studies and risk assessment Cost: $200 Organizer(s): Dana Barr, Emory University Instructor(s): Dana Barr, Emory University; Debra Kaden, Environ International Corporation; Jacob Persky, Environ International Corporation Description: Exposure science involves the study of human contact with chemical, physical, or biological agents that are found in the environment. It serves as a bridge between traditional environmental science and environmental health by advancing our understanding of the mechanisms and alterations of events lead to adverse health outcomes. Exposure science is a critical component of health studies and risk assessments. Without proper understanding and characterization of exposure, both environmental and occupational epidemiologic studies and risk assessments would be hampered. This course will discuss the evolution of exposure science, the primary ways of assessing exposure, and validation of exposure metrics. We will discuss exposure assessment using ecologic methods and models, direct or personal exposure measurements and biomonitoring measurements and the advantages and limitations of using each tool. In addition, we will discuss compare and contrast the exposure assessment methods most suitable for differing exposure scenarios (e.g., occurpational vs. ambient, transient vs. continual). This course will offer the participant a guideline for evaluating the quality of and uncertainty associated with exposure metrics. We will further describe important interpretation and communication issues. Case studies will be described that will highlight different aspects of the intricacies of using various exposure assessment tools. The incorporation of these data into the risk assessment paradigm will be discussed.

Workshop U: Fundamentals of Risk Assessment & Toxicology at Contaminated Sites Cost: $275 Organizer(s): Michael P. Musso, HDR, Inc. Instructor(s): Michael P. Musso, HDR, Inc. Description: The continuing education workshop “Fundamentals of Risk Assessment & Toxicology at Contaminated Sites” provide an overview of the 4 Step process of Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) utilized to evaluate chemical contamination at hazardous waste sites, Brownfields, and other types of settings. Environmental regulatory frameworks (e.g., Federal, State agencies) into which HHRA is integrated for decision-making will be discussed. Examples and case studies regarding hazardous waste sites, contaminated media, and exposure settings relevant to human health will be provided for illustration purposes by the instructor, with opportunity for class participants to share experiences. Hazard identification, including interpretations of environmental data, and Exposure Assessment modules will be presented during the first half of the work shop. Toxicological Evaluation and Risk Characterization will be presented in the afternoon. During the course, key reference documents and tools available to the risk assessor, including updates that have been issued, will be discussed. In-class exercises will also be administered during the day to demonstrate the HHRA process. The workshop is geared towards entry to mid-level environmental professionals working on contaminated or hazardous waste sites (e.g., EPA – or State-led) who would like to learn more about the fundamental 4-step HHRA process, or persons with a general interest in applying HHRA at contaminated sites.

Workshop S: Introduction to Monte Carlo Simulation for Exposure Assessments with Excel Tools Cost: $350 Organizer(s): Tom Armstrong, TWA8HR Occupational Hygiene Consulting, LLC; Fred Boelter, Environ International Corporation Instructor(s): Tom Armstrong, TWA8HR Occupational Hygiene Consulting, LLC; Fred Boelter, Environ International Corporation Description: The workshop provides background and experience with Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) methods with a focus on exposure modeling for consumer, general population and environmental applications. MCS methods 1) define calculation input probability distributions for a calculation, 2) generate random values of the inputs from the defined probability distributions, 3) perform the modeling calculations using random inputs and 4) aggregate and statistically evaluate the results. MCS methods have use in exposure assessment practice for estimating exposures, past, present or future. The results have utility in risk assessment by comparison to metrics of acceptable exposure. The workshop will review basics MCS methods, and provide a synopsis of available software, both commercial and freeware. Instructors will provide examples of the use of MCS methods in estimating exposures to toxic agents. Following the examples, participants will have exercises designed for them to learn the software, selection of input distributions, the calculations, and interpretation of results. Prior to the course start, participants will be asked to provide scenarios to work through as in-class case studies. An understanding of sensitivity analysis, as well as the difference of and need for additional uncertainty analyses will be developed. The relationship between variability and epistemic uncertainty as it relates to the inputs, results and final analysis will be covered in detail. Participants will be expected to bring their own notebook PC with MS Excel and ability to enable macros, in order to keep notes on the handouts, and to run the software for the participant case studies.

Workshop N: Benchmark Dose Modeling Cost: $300 Organizer(s): Allen Davis, USEPA Instructor(s): Allen Davis, USEPA; Jeff Gift, USEPA; Jay Zhao, USEPA Description: The objective of this full-day course is to provide participants with interactive training on the use of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Benchmark Dose Software (BMDS) and its application to risk assessment. Use of BMD methods addresses many of the limitations of the traditional No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) approach. BMD modeling involves fitting mathematical models to dose-response data in order to identify points of departure for use in human health risk assessments. In this interactive training workshop, EPA instructors will present: the basic theory of BMD modeling (including selection of a benchmark response level, model fitting and comparison), a demonstration of EPA’s BMDS 2.5, and individual and group modeling exercises. Instructors will focus on the use of the new Excel-based BMDS Wizard templates that are provided with BMDS 2.5. The BMDS Wizard streamlines BMD analyses by allowing users to build BMDS inputs, run models, and import results in Excel. In addition to importing all results, it is capable of recommending best-fitting models using customizable decision criteria. Participants are not required to have any previous BMD experience, but it is recommended that they familiarize themselves with basic concepts through the online tutorial and training materials provided on the EPA BMDS website (http://epa.gov/ncea/bmds/training/index.html). Participants need to bring their own laptops to the workshop with BMDS 2.4 installed. The latest version of the software program can be found at: http://epa.gov/ncea/bmds/. In order to use the BMDS Wizard templates, Microsoft Excel must be installed on the user’s laptops.

Workshop Q: An Introduction to Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) for the Risk Professional Cost: $150 Organizer(s): Mark H. Weir, Temple University; Charles N. Haas, Drexel University Instructor(s): Mark H. Weir, Temple University; Charles N. Haas, Drexel University; Patrick L. Gurian, Drexel University; Jade Mitchell, Michigan State University; John Scott Meschke, University of Washington Description: QMRA is a growing field with increasing reliance placed upon it in policy and engineering decisions. Risk analysis professionals have the requisite basic skill set to complete and understand a QMRA. However, there is specialized knowledge and skills required for accurate and appropriate QMRA development and use. This workshop will present an introduction to both the knowledge and skills as well as QMRA data and models online interface being developed by the instructors. Basics of risk analysis will not be covered rather, we will focus on the microbiology, mathematics, decision analytics and characterization specific to QMRA. The morning will be devoted to lectures that will introduce the concepts and the online resource (www.qmrawiki.msu.edu) to be used in the afternoon. In the afternoon the attendees will be lead through case studies based around specific scenarios in microbial risk assessment. The attendees are invited to bring their own personal computers to develop their own QMRA models and components, thereby, being able to retain these example models for future work. Prior instruction or experience in risk analysis or probabilistic modeling is encouraged. If you have questions regarding your capabilities please contact workshop organizer Dr. Mark H. Weir (mark.weir@temple.edu). It is recommended that you have a working knowledge of Excel (installed on your machine) and an open mind to new computational tools. It is recommended that you have R installed as well for demonstration purposes. It is also recommended that you visit the QMRA library to familiarize yourself with some of the concepts (http://goo.gl/z8NrVj).

Workshop F: Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Cost: $25 Organizer(s): Randall Ryti, Neptune and Company, Inc. Instructor(s): Scott Klingensmith, Flatirons Toxicology, Inc.; Gary Drendel, Tetratech; Bruce Hastings, USFWS Description: A unique field trip workshop is being offered to SRA members to see firsthand a successful ecological restoration project. The former Rocky Arsenal Site was restored as a collaborative effort among the U.S. Army, Shell Oil Co., and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Located just northeast of Denver, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a 15,000-acre expanse of prairie, wetland and woodland habitat. The land has a unique story - it has survived the test of time and transitioned from farmland, to war-time manufacturing site, to wildlife sanctuary. It may be one of the finest conservation success stories in history and a place where wildlife thrives. The Refuge provides 10 miles of hiking trails, wildlife viewing opportunities, site tours for the public, a self-guided Wildlife Drive auto tour, and is a sanctuary for more than 330 species of animals, including bison, deer, coyotes, bald eagles and burrowing owls. In the fall, coyotes are well-camouflaged among the rust and golden-colored grasses as they hunt from the edges of prairie dog towns. Mule and white-tailed deer bucks display their impressive antlers as they compete for does. Refuge lakes provide a haven for migrating waterfowl such as northern pintails, northern shovelers, redheads, and ring necked ducks. Silhouettes of great horned owls may be seen perched close to tree trunks after the leaves have fallen. Sandhill cranes announce their brief visit on their migration to the south.

Workshop M: Integrating Strategic Risk Communication with Risk Assessment to Achieve Targeted Risk Management Outcomes Cost: $450 Organizer(s): Gordon Butte, Decision Partners; Steve Ackerlund, Kleinfelder Instructor(s): Gordon Butte, Decision Partners; Steve Ackerlund, Kleinfelder; Sarah Thorne, Decision Partners Description: Risk management plans often fall short of achieving outcomes because those responsible do not effectively match the technical elements of the plan with the values, needs, interests and priorities of the relevant stakeholders in and outside their organization. The result is risk management plans are not implemented, despite their high intrinsic value. This full-day workshop will explore the integration of risk communication practices with risk analysis to avoid a mismatch between technical elements of risk and stakeholder needs. Using a case study and class exercise format, facilitators will provide case examples from around the world of risk management plans that successfully integrated risk communication and risk analysis. Mental Modeling methodology will be discussed as a core technique for risk communication. In addition to lecture and instruction, the workshop will be a forum for dialogue and problem-solving where participants will be encouraged to share examples of their own risk challenges. Simple tools for risk analysis and communication design typical of those used in Mental Modeling will be provided for participants to use in the workshop to develop solutions to selected issues that can be applied in their organizations. This workshop is designed for professionals responsible for the management or analysis of risks of all kinds affecting organizations of all types, including policy makers, regulators, industry or NGO managers, scientists, engineers, and planners. Participants will leave the course able to design a risk management approach that is appropriate to the nature of the risks and makes effective use of risk communication methods and tools.

Workshop P: Cumulative Risk Assessment: Addressing Combined Environmental Stressors Cost: $349 Organizer(s): Linda K. Teuschler, LK Teuschler & Associates Instructor(s): Linda K. Teuschler, LK Teuschler & Associates; Rick Hertzberg, Biomathematics Consulting; Margaret MacDonell, Argonne National Laboratory; Moiz Mumtaz, ATSDR; Jane Ellen Simmons, USEPA; Amanda M. Evans, Association of Schools of Public Health Research Fellow; Michael Wright, USEPA; Glenn E. Rice, USEPA Description: Cumulative risk assessment (CRA) addresses the impacts of multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors on real world individuals and communities, resulting in complex exposures for individuals and populations with a variety of vulnerabilities, in applications that range from environmental justice and community sustainability to individual health promotion and protection. Nonchemical stressors include biological and physical agents (e.g., microbes and noise) as well as socioeconomic stressors and psychosocial conditions (e.g., associated with natural disasters). Public concerns that can initiate CRAs include (1) elevated environmental measurements or biomonitoring data; (2) multiple sources of pollutants or stressors; and (3) changes in disease rates or patterns (e.g., leukemia cluster) or ecological effects (e.g., loss of wildlife diversity). This workshop focuses on human health and begins with an overview of three CRA elements: analysis, characterization, and quantification (as feasible) of the combined risks from multiple stressors. Teaching methods include lectures and hands-on exercises. Presentations highlight basic concepts, methods, and resources for conducting a population-based CRA. A central theme is integrating exposure and dose-response information with population characteristics during planning and scoping based on initiating factors. Vulnerability factors are addressed, e.g., diet/nutritional status, behaviors, genetic traits, socioeconomic status, sensitivities, and psychosocial stress. Methods for estimating human health risks are discussed and applied, including epidemiologic approaches and assessing the joint toxicity of chemical mixtures. In the exercises, participants develop chemical, biological and physical stressor groups using exposure and toxicity factors, link them with population vulnerability factors and conduct a risk characterization. Participants are asked to bring a calculator.

Workshop T: Understanding and Application of Risk Assessment in Food Cost: $300 Organizer(s): Abdel-Razak Kadry, USEPA Instructor(s): Abdel-Razak Kadry, USEPA; Michael Bolger, Exponent; Matthew Lorber, USEPA, Michelle Catlin, Food Safety and Inspection Service-USDA Description: Risk Assessment plays a unique role in serving the needs of various international programs through incorporating, integrating and coordinating the use of scientific information as a foundation for regulatory decision-making. This course will offer hands-on training in the areas of risk assessment with an emphasis on their application to food safety. In addition, the available databases on food safety will be reviewed, and case studies of food contamination will be provided.

Workshop E: Occupational Safety Risk Assessment on Construction Industry Cost: $190 Organizer(s): Abel Pinto, Safe@Work Instructor(s): Abel Pinto, Safe@Work Description: Construction industry is plagued by risky situations resulting in workplace accidents and injuries with significant economic costs. This workshop presents the new developed fuzzy QRAM model, which intends to support construction companies in carrying out their responsibilities to reduce occupational safety risks. The innovative aspects of QRAM model is to embody assess of the safety climate and the safety barriers effectiveness as assessment dimensions and the use of fuzzy sets theory to enhance the use of imprecise and incomplete information, elicited by linguistic variables. The QRAM model was designed based on the best academic and empirical knowledge about safety risks on construction industry, biomechanical data and laws of physics, chemistry and engineering. The lack of credible and accurate data, resulting from the in-depth investigation of work accidents in construction industry was the greatest difficulty in carry out this work. QRAM was, firstly evaluated by “peer” review, with 12 safety experts from Brazil (2), Bulgaria (1), Greece (3), Turkey (3) and Portugal (3) and, then, appraised by comparing QRAM with 2 other occupational safety risk assessment techniques. The safety experts evaluators concluded that: a) QRAM is a versatile tool to assess occupational safety risk assessment on construction sites; b) the specific checklists for knowledge elicitation are a good aid and enhance the process objectivity and, c) the use of linguistic variables is a better way to rate the risk factors thus to render the risk assessment process more objective and reliable.

Workshop O: Probabilistic Risk Analysis with Hardly Any Data Cost: $290 Organizer(s): Scott Ferson, Applied Biomathematics Instructor(s): Scott Ferson, Applied Biomathematics Description: This full-day tutorial introduces and compares methods for developing a probabilistic risk analysis when little or no empirical data are available to inform the risk model. Participants will be able to work numerical examples with workshop software on their own laptops. The talks are organized around the basic problems that risk analysts face: not knowing the input distributions, not knowing their correlations, not being sure about the model itself, or even which variables should be considered. Possible strategies include traditional approximative methods and recent robust and bounding methods. Numerical examples are given that illustrate the use of various methods including traditional moment propagation, PERT, maximum entropy, uniformity principle, probability bounds analysis, Bayesian model averaging and the old work horse, sensitivity analysis. All of the approaches can be used to develop a fully probabilistic estimate useful for screening decisions and other planning. The advantages and drawbacks of the various approaches are examined. Essentially, the drawbacks are that bounding approaches may say too little about risks, and the rough and ready approximate methods may say too much. The discussion addresses how defensible decisions can be made even when little information is available, and when one should break down and collect some data and, in that case, what data to look for. The presentation style will be casual and interactive. Participants will receive a CD of the illustrations and software to run some of the numerical examples used during the tutorial.

Workshop J: Risk Analysis Scenario Set Design Workshop Cost: $250 Organizer(s): Steven S. Streetman, Data Architecture Solutions, Inc. Instructor(s): Steven S. Streetman, Data Architecture Solutions, Inc. Description: The first of Kaplan and Garrick’s three risk questions is “what can happen?” Yet, many risk assessments fail to develop an adequate set of scenarios to evaluate risk and, subsequently, may make invalid estimates of risk. This workshop will teach methods to ensure that the scenario sets developed correctly represent the potential risks. Topics include: Differences between planning scenarios, exercise scenarios, and risk scenarios. How to ‘tile the risk space’. How to assess the quality of a scenario set using 7 key criteria. How to generate scenarios from defined components. How to identify a minimum cut set. How to ensure consistency between scenarios within a scenario set. The workshop will use real world (sanitized) examples from different risk analysis applications to show both good and flawed approaches through a combination of lecture, class discussion, and hands-on scenario exercises. The material is invaluable for risk analysts at all levels of expertise and experience, but is also necessary for risk analysis program managers and decision makers who must use risk analyses for prioritizing decisions. Participants in the workshop will learn to identify and fix flaws in scenario sets, understand the tradeoffs necessary in designing new scenario sets, and be better able to defend their selections. With so much emphasis elsewhere on how to estimate likelihood and consequences or solve systems of scenario equations, this workshop fills a vital gap in risk analysis education: no matter how sophisticated your techniques for estimation, a bad scenario set will lead to erroneous risk results.

Workshop I: Fundamental Concepts of Risk Assessment, Risk Perception and Risk Communication Cost: $300 Organizer(s): Branden Johnson, Decision Research Instructor(s): Branden Johnson, Decision Research; Darrell W. Donahue, Maine Maritime Academy Description: Meetings and publications of the Society for Risk Analysis can be daunting to newcomers. More generally, risk analysis incorporates and spans many disciplines. It is often difficult for people, even those who work on some topic within risk analysis—be it toxicology, terrorist threat assessment or human behavior—to understand how their work fits into the risk analysis “big picture.” Likewise, disciplinary training does not prepare people to understand, much less converse with, fellow practitioners. This workshop, taught by two experts with extensive histories in practice, government and academia, is designed to fill that gap. We introduce fundamental risk analysis concepts and terminology, including elements of risk management, risk assessment, and risk perception and communication. Exercises (microbial risk focused) will be used to allow the participants to apply these basic concepts of risk analysis with extensions into other risk fields. Upon completion of this course, students will understand the fundamental concepts of risk analysis. The workshop is suitable for first time Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting attendees, as well as all individuals new to risk analysis and those who have been involved in only a limited aspect of risk analysis. They will be prepared to engage comfortably in the range of conversations that distinguish Society for Risk Analysis Annual Conferences.

Workshop A: Introduction and Application of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Cost: $175 Organizer(s): Alison Willis, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment Instructor(s): Dr. James H. Clarke, Vanderbilt University; Dr. Jim Rogers, West Texas A&M University; Dr. Lucas Stephane, Florida Institute of Technology; Dr. Margaret MacDonell, Argonne National Laboratory Description: This workshop on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and its application plans to cover broad ground. The first half of the workshop will be a background and introduction to EIA including related regulatory guidance, design and conduct of EIA, impact analysis, risk assessment, remediation of legacy contamination, and long term-environmental protection. Next, we will cover a detailed review of complexity of environmental regulations and the differences between the States and Federal agencies with the goal of providing an awareness of environmental regulations and the agencies that implement those laws, contacts, references, and other information sources. This will be followed by a theoretical look at three different types assessments: 1) environmental impact analyses; 2) remedial investigations, risk assessments, and feasibility studies; and 3) transactional (property transfer) environmental audits. Following these detailed lectures will be the presentation of 3-4 short case studies: 1) detailing the process of implementing EIA under NEPA; 2) an international perspective of EIA in France and the regulatory process; 3) a non-chemical application for the Fukushima Daiichi disaster covering EIA for radioactivity releases; and potential for a fourth. Students will take home a broad understanding of rules and regulations associated with the EIA process, a solid understanding of implementation and techniques/tools available, and a look at the tailoring for site-specific EIA assessments, international applications, and some solutions to anticipated problems.

Workshop B: Eliciting Judgments from Experts and Non-experts to Inform Decision-making Cost: $250 Organizer(s): Aylin Sertkaya, Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG); Cristina McLaughlin, Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Instructor(s): Aylin Sertkaya, Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG); Cristina McLaughlin, Food & Drug Administration (FDA); Frank Hearl, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); David Cragin, Merck Description: Decision makers must frequently rely on data or information that is incomplete or inadequate in one way or another. Judgment, often from experts and occasionally from non-experts, then plays a critical role in the interpretation and characterization of those data as well as in the completion of information gaps. But how experts or non-experts are selected and their judgments elicited matters – they can also strongly influence the opinions obtained and the analysis on which they rely. Several approaches to eliciting judgments have evolved. The workshop will cover topics ranging from recruitment, elicitation protocol design, different elicitation techniques (e.g., individual elicitations, Delphi method, nominal group technique, etc.) to aggregation methods for combining opinions of multiple individuals. The role of judgment elicitation and its limitations, problems, and risks in policy analysis will also be addressed. The workshop will include presentation of two case studies that will include a discussion of the selection process; elicitation protocol development, elicitation technique utilized, and the various issues that arose before, during, and after the elicitation process and the manner in which they were resolved. The class will also include two hands-on exercises where participants will 1) learn about calibration of experts using a mobile application and 2) apply the Delphi and nominal group techniques to examine risk management issues associated with recreational marijuana.

Workshop W: Probabilistic Risk Analysis with Hardly Any Data (This workshop is also offered as an ALL DAY workshop on Sunday) Cost: $290 Organizer(s): Scott Ferson, Applied Biomathematics Instructor(s): Scott Ferson, Applied Biomathematics Description: This full-day tutorial introduces and compares methods for developing a probabilistic risk analysis when little or no empirical data are available to inform the risk model. Participants will be able to work numerical examples with workshop software on their own laptops. The talks are organized around the basic problems that risk analysts face: not knowing the input distributions, not knowing their correlations, not being sure about the model itself, or even which variables should be considered. Possible strategies include traditional approximative methods and recent robust and bounding methods. Numerical examples are given that illustrate the use of various methods including traditional moment propagation, PERT, maximum entropy, uniformity principle, probability bounds analysis, Bayesian model averaging and the old work horse, sensitivity analysis. All of the approaches can be used to develop a fully probabilistic estimate useful for screening decisions and other planning. The advantages and drawbacks of the various approaches are examined. Essentially, the drawbacks are that bounding approaches may say too little about risks, and the rough and ready approximate methods may say too much. The discussion addresses how defensible decisions can be made even when little information is available, and when one should break down and collect some data and, in that case, what data to look for. The presentation style will be casual and interactive. Participants will receive a CD of the illustrations and software to run some of the numerical examples used during the tutorial.

Workshop H: Methods for Quantifying and Valuing Population Health Impacts Cost: $250 Organizer(s): Kevin Brand, University of Ottawa Instructor(s): Kevin Brand, University of Ottawa; Sandra Hoffman, USDA Description: The workshop reviews standard practices and emerging issues related to the quantification of a population’s health state. Particular attention is paid to the array of metrics available for this purpose, their use in quantifying population health impacts, and how these impact projections can be integrated into economic valuations. Risk assessment typically couples exposure information with an exposure-response relationship to estimate changes in incidence rates (e.g., a mortality rate). Expressed in this fashion (along an incident rate scale) these impact measures fall short. They do not capture the burden of disease, are not readily interpretable, complicate the comparison of disease outcomes, and are not suited to a single number summary. This workshop focuses on the methods required to get readily interpretable, comparable, bottom-line, summaries of health impact. A dizzying array of metrics can be used to quantify health impacts. Consider for example ``avoidable deaths,'' PEYLLs, life-expectancy, lifetime risk, HALEs, QALYs, DALEs, DALYs and `attributable-fractions’ to name just a few. In this workshop we survey and bring order to these variants, classifying the metrics into a couple of categories. A finer grained classification is provided based on how the metric is calculated; for example does it adjust for the size and age structure of the population under study. The key choices and their influence upon projected outcomes will be outlined. Finally, a survey of the key steps and considerations that are required to map the health impacts, expressed in units such as change in life-expectancy, into health-economic evaluations will be offered.

Workshop L: Ensuring Occupational Safety Risk Assessment Quality Cost: $190 Organizer(s): Abel Pinto, Safe@Work Instructor(s): Abel Pinto, Safe@Work Description: Occupational Safety Risk Assessment (OSRA) on workplace sites is the first and key step to reduce safety hazards (and, consequently, the number and severity of work accidents) in order to achieve inherent safety, particularly to support decision-making in safety programs. The paramount importance of OSRA process creates the necessity to identify criteria for evaluating the results of such analysis, in terms of completeness and depth of assessment This advanced coverage workshop will analyses and discusses, in depth, the causes of OSRA criticisms namely: inaccuracy (mainly in the probabilities); incompleteness; difficulty of checking final results; inadequate criteria for evaluating the results; and complexity and laboriousness of the methods and presents criteria to evaluate the OSRA process, in terms of completeness and adequacy of results, through a systematic analysis of the overall process and gives guidance to determine analysis objectives and define the boundaries, estimate the need of resources, select reliability data, select the hazards identification and risks evaluation methods and document the results (in a traceable way). Attendants will be invited to contribute with their own experiences to debate problems that arises during the OSRA process is performed. Attendants should bring their laptops.

Workshop G: Applying Risk Assessment and Risk Management to Engineering Processes Cost: $295 Organizer(s): Justin Moses, Kleinfelder; Scott Dwyer, Kleinfelder Instructor(s): Justin Moses, Kleinfelder; Scott Dwyer, Kleinfelder Description: The success of any organization depends largely on the ability of that organization to identify, understand, and manage risk. Nowhere are these abilities more important than in capital-intensive industries that source, process, store, and distribute chemicals and equipment. Such industries are too often in newspaper headlines and television news because of a catastrophic and tragic failure in some aspect of their infrastructure – think Bhopal, Seveso, Texas City, Deepwater Horizon. In all cases, the causes of these tragedies can be traced to failures in the risk assessment/risk management process that should be the cornerstone of any industrial operation. This workshop is an introductory course to the application of risk assessment and risk management for the process engineering activities that underpin commercial industrial operations. Beginning with an introduction to risk assessment, including the identification of hazards, assessment and characterization of those hazards, and prioritization for management of those hazards, the workshop will then focus on the risk management approach that informs Process Hazard Analyses (PHAs) and Hazardous Operability studies (HAZOPs) performed during the design process and as part of periodic safety reviews to evaluate the probability and severity of hypothetical process deviations. The PHAs and HAZOPs are systematic analyses that evaluate process deviation risk and possible protective measures are identified, as necessary, to reduce the probability of an adverse event, thus reducing the risk. PHAs are required under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119 Process Safety Management for Highly Hazardous Chemicals. Demonstrations of the PHA and/or HAZOP evaluation will be provided using typical industry software. Workshop participants can expect to complete the course with a working knowledge of risk assessment and the specific application of risk assessment to infrastructure and industrial processes, an understanding of the risk assessment/risk management continuum, a working knowledge of risk management and the application of risk management to infrastructure and industrial processes, and a working knowledge of PHA and HAZOP theory and application. Workshop participants can also expect to have the ability to begin implementing risk assessment/risk management programs in their own organizations.

Workshop K: Asbestos Fate and Transport, Exposure and Risk Cost: $275 Organizer(s): Stephen Zemba, CDM Smith; Lynn Woodbury, CDM Smith Instructor(s): Stephen Zemba, CDM Smith; Lynn Woodbury, CDM Smith Description: Asbestos is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, present naturally from mineral deposits, but greatly enhanced at some location due to its formerly prevalent mining and use n building materials and automotive products. Asbestos presents interesting risk assessment challenges due to its unique qualities and different forms. This workshop will focus on top to-bottom approaches to asbestos risk assessment, focusing on recent investigations and findings at the Libby (MT) Asbestos Superfund Site. The aim of this course is to provide practitioners with state-of-the art knowledge and tools for assessing asbestos exposure and risk, working from a conceptual exposure model applicable generally to contaminated sites. Sampling and analysis methods will be discussed as relating to risk characterization. Models for fugitive dust emissions, dispersion, and deposition will be emphasized as means by which asbestos may be liberated to air, leading to exposure as particulate matter and redistributing to areas with greater exposure potential (such as indoor dust). Retrospective emission reconstruction to assess historic exposures will be discussed. Findings of USEPA investigations of the Libby Site, which (in addition to air) included the collection/analysis of asbestos in multiple environmental media, including soil, tree bark, duff, deer and fish tissue, water, sediment, and prewater, will be described along with their use and value in developing informed risk management decisions. Toxicity assessment and risk characterization will also be covered, including the site-specific approach taken by EPA at Libby.

Workshop V: Implementing Cumulative Risk Assessment: Applying Tiered Methods via Case Studies Cost: $250 Organizer(s): Margaret MacDonell, Argonne National Laboratory Instructor(s): Margaret MacDonell, Argonne National Laboratory; Rick Hertzberg, Biomathematics Consulting; Linda Teushcler, LK Teuschler & Associates; Glenn E. Rice, USEPA Description: Cumulative risk assessment (CRA) approaches continue to evolve, and a number of methods are being tested in practical applications that offer insights for broader CRA implementation. These methods address specific elements of the CRA process, beginning with planning and scoping and problem formulation and extending through integrated exposure and effect assessments to risk characterization and uncertainty analysis. This workshop emphasizes human health applications and illustrates a phased process that builds from screening-level methods to qualitative and semiquantitative approaches. Lectures and hands-on exercises will illustrate CRA methods and tools for several example applications: These applications range from community-based hazard ranking to assessments of urban air quality, pesticides, and produced water from unconventional oil and gas development. Participants are asked to bring a laptop &/or calculator.

Workshop R: Information Analysis as a Basis for Effective Crisis Response Strategies Cost: $350 Organizer(s): Stijn Pieters, CIP Institute Instructor(s): Stijn Pieters, CIP Institute; Anne-Marie van het Erve, CIP Institute; Frank Vergeer, CIP Institute Description: Nowadays, crisis communication teams suffer from responding to a crisis in an adequate way. Editing and validating initial press releases are often too time consuming. Furthermore, as our world has changed dramatically in the way civilians share thoughts and feelings, a prompt and firm communicative response is not only expected, but also often demanded. Consequently, a crisis team has to immediately acknowledge a (potential) crisis by interacting with the public and sharing relevant information. Immediately after claiming a spot in the public discourse, crisis managers have to start listening to the crowd, even before generating a key message or strategy. Herein lies the need for a structured and underpinned data analysis based on the vast amount of data available on the Internet and in traditional media sources. This workshop presents an innovative but practical methodology on the formation and training of crisis communication teams. The basis of this methodology is collecting and transforming vast amounts of data on a particular crisis into a strategic input for determining a crisis communication response strategy. This methodology leaded to a framework, which consists of a work process, methodologies and principles. Over the last years, this methodology has been implementing at both private and public organizations. In 2013, the Belgian Federal Crisis Centre and the National Police Crisis Communication Teams in The Netherlands have adopted this framework as the primal methodology for their communication response team. Moreover, the framework has been successfully applied during various crisis situations, ranging from physical to non-physical incidents.

Workshop D: Citizen Involvement in Risk Communication and Governance: An Opportunity for Managing Emerging Risks? Cost: $300 Organizer(s): Ortwin Renn, Oliver Scheel, Regina Schroeter Instructor(s): Ortwin Renn, Zirius; Oliver Scheel, Zirius; Regina Schroeter, Zirius Description: In contrast to familiar hazards, emerging risks are difficult to detect and to assess in advance. In many cases little is known about trigging effects because of complexity and long periods of latency. For risk managers emerging risks imply major challenges for management processes with a strong emphasis on screening, monitoring and framing. In addition to factual knowledge, evaluation-based procedures are important to enhance the acceptance of a risk or the measures to cope with its consequences. Stakeholder and citizen involvement methods have been proposed to use the experiences of these groups and individuals for screening potential threats and to elicit value tradeoffs that could help to design robust response strategies. At the workshop the following topics will be addressed: Emerging risks point to a long period of latency while the public attention is mainly related to current issues. How can we mobilize public attention to deal with serious threats that lie ahead in the future? Many emerging risks are unknown to science or professional risk managers. Can public screening be a possibility to serve as an early warning system? Preparing for emerging risks implies investment in precaution that may not be efficient? How can public input be used to find the best tradeoff between efficiency and resilience? Often emerging risks appear out of the blue, for example with pandemics. What role can public participation play in preparing for such a case? The workshop will address these questions and provide examples for the potential contributions of stakeholder and citizen involvement.

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